About the Author

Ohg Rea Tone is all or nothing. He is educated and opinionated, more clever than smart, sarcastic and forthright. He writes intuitively - often disregarding rules of composition. Comment on his posts - he will likely respond with characteristic humor or genuine empathy. He is the real-deal.

Bias statement: Most people think of me as a liberal. And if I had to categorize myself I would agree. But this post probably would not be held in high esteem by the liberal elite. Why? Because this post is all about the bias of the main stream media (MSM for the radical right). The MSM has been out in force this past week – covering the story of the wacko christian Preacher who planned on burning the Islam Holy text – the Koran. Fearful of alienating more people of the Islam faith the MSM poured fuel on the fire. The fire raged.

This week saw Muslim protests around the world at the mere planning of a Koran burning. The images on the televised news were clear – the burning of the American Flag, the burning in effigy any symbol of the United States. These protests were held in nearly every dominant Muslim country in the world. They were essentially saying, “How dare you Americans burn one of our symbols?”

The MSM did no justice to the cause of peace and harmony in the world. Much like the co-dependent spouse in an abusive relationship – the American MSM blamed ourselves for the misbehavior of others. There is certainly merit in the argument that just because someone else acts out of hatred we are not justified in acting the same way. My father used to become absolutley livid if I justified misbehavior by saying my peers were also misbehaving. So this – just because someone else burns the symbols of our Nation we are not justified in becoming as wacko as them.

But put the MSM aside for a moment. Who cares what Bill O’Reilly or Keith Olberman think or say? They are just opposite sides of the same coin. The reality feels like there is a double standard for our country, the dominant faith of our country and the Muslim dominated countries of wacko land.

Personally, I get really tired of being held to a higher standard. High standards are important; I hold my children and grandchildren to high standards. Like my father before me I become very disturbed when I hear one of my descendants claim immunity based on the similar behavior of others. A copycat crime is still a crime. A copycat injustice is still an injustice.

But my father before me would address issues on two fronts. First he would correct the behavior of his child – then he would take the issue to the parents of my comrades in mischief. If peer behavior did not change my father would make some very definite decisions about who I could hang around – I should note that my father was not one to cross. My father did not have a double standard – he did not care who was at fault for a wrong done – bad behavior was simply not tolerated. Sometimes my friend’s parents did not agree with my father – and my friends continued in behavior not acceptable to my father. But I never felt a double standard being applied to me and my friends. I understood the high standard expected of me by my father – and I understood he applied his standard across the board.

That is where the values of my father and the values of our current political leaders go their separate ways. It seems our political leaders, bunkered by the MSM, demand higher standards from us than they do of others. Well, not exactly, the Tea Party and the Republican leaders have written off any standards of good behavior and have been wallowing in the gutter with the radical Islamic loonies.

I do not believe that wacko Pastor should have even suggested a burning of the Koran. We Americans are better than that. But like my father before me – I believe bad behavior by others should also be challenged. We should police our own behavior. But we should not sit idly by while others abuse us.

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I’m not sure what you mean by “we should not sit idly by while others abuse us.” What abuse? I don’t think as American’s of the “Christian” faith there is anything in our vocabulary to describe the symbolism as you put it of the Koran to Islam.

We have become so distant from each other in our families, our relationships with each other and especially our relationship with God, who has become nothing more than a symbol of some kind spiritual faith, we can’t even agree if he’s a real person or just an symbol for what’s “good, moral, and right”.

We can’t really understand that God is real to these people,there is no doubt in their mind. Their whole life centers around the Book, and and their integrity to their diety, not in a superficial way like the Bible to most American’s. To insult the Koran is to insult God himself. The one person who is the center (not in a superficial Christian sort of way) of thier life.

Radical Muslims are as crazy as radical Christians, such as the ones spewing hatred from the media pulpit everyday in the MSM you talk about. They don’t speak for the main stream religious, anymore than the wacked out personalities surfacing in politics speak for mainstream American’s. I have a paranoid tendency to believe that this craziness is a part of a master plan to cause great divisions and dissent, further dividing our great nation. The “United we stand, divided we fall”, theory. All the while there is a current of radical corporate and political entities just under the surface ready to pick up the pieces and take full control in the chaos.

Though I believe in being loyal to my God, who I do believe as a real person, and to my country…I want to be careful not to fall into the trap of emotional and blind loyalty that will prevent me from being able to step back see what may be really going on.

Anyone who knows anything about the history of Christianity also knows that there is a common root with Judeasim and Islam, we are all brothers, with the same God as father, and the earth as our mother. The true common root teachings of all these faiths teach love for each other and love and obedience to one God. I feel it’s more important that we discard the teachings and separate and expose the radicals of modern Judeasim, Christianity and Islam, and draw our brothers closer than it is to defend our shallow egos and loose our souls in the process.

I hope that I understand your comment, I may be off base just a bit in my comprhension of what you were trying relate. Feel free to correct me.

Christianity is full of symbols – beginning with the sacraments, the cross, Sunday rest, the Eucharist, wedding rings, church steeples, pews, and the Bible itself.

What I was trying to say is this: The Pastor who planned to burn the Koran was accused of inflaming the Muslim world community, somehow suggesting that the Muslims had a right to be inflamed when one of their symbols was burned.

But the same right is not accorded Americans who feel abused by the burning of their sacred symbols.

I don’t believe this “pastor” lit the flame though I believe he was trying to fan them, for whatever reason.

I agree the world is full of double standards and it frustrates me to no end. Including the inconsistency between what we say we belive and how we demonstrate it.

I think I did understand what you were trying to say. My point was that as American’s we are so divided on everything, we really don’t all stand united with such a passion for anything, unless you talk about “child abuse’ which is funamentally the most universal passion we have as American’s. Most other matters we have wide dissent amongst ourselves.

That’s the difference, I personally am not offended by similar expressions of anger when it comes to American religious symbols, that’s what they are symbols, but the Koran is like the living literal voice of God himself, and unanimously so to Muslims, if I understand the loyalty they feel to God and his word.

Therefore, I have a hard time equating their united anger and passion for the Koran with our divided passion for anything. I believe that’s why they react so violently to an air of disrespect towards God. It’s not so much a double standard as it is a universal passion we as American’s seem to lack. Such a response from Americans would seem theatrical to me, rather than a collective and sincere expression of a universal passion for something.